Still holding his 9mm Beretta, a seriously injured First Sgt. Brad Kasal is carried from the “Hell House” by Lcpls. Chris Marquez and Dane Shaffer on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2004. First Sgt. Kasal lost much of his blood and nearly lost his right leg after being shot seven times by insurgents. His body was peppered with shrapnel as he used his body to shield an injured younger Marine, PFC Alex Nicoll, from a grenade blast.

A medic with the 101st Airborne Division tenderly places his hand on the forehead of an Afghan child who has died from an unknown respiratory ailment despite his attempts at CPR. The child's father had brought the boy to the Spera District Center in the hopes that U.S. and Afghan forces would be able to treat the child. The Spera DC is less than a dozen miles from the Afghan-Pakistani border.

A forward air controller scans the hills for targets as soldiers from Baker Company, 2-12 Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division patrol the slopes and villages of Afghanistan's Korengal Valley in the summer of 2009.

Soldiers from Baker Company, 2-12 Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division fire on Taliban fighters after coming under machine-gun fire in one of their positions on the slopes of Afghanistan's Korengal Valley in the summer of 2009.

A cloud of dust and smoke rises from the site of an air strike called by soldiers from Baker Company, 2-12 Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division after they came under fire from Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley in the summer of 2009.

Afghan voters go to the polls in the Watapur district of Kunar province to vote in their second national election for presidential, parliamentary and provincial officials on Aug. 20, 2009. The election was marred by widespread Taliban attacks throughout the province. Seen here, poll workers - fearful that the vote tallies would be tampered with after the ballot boxes are handed off to police and provincial officials - count ballots in the presence of representatives of various candidates before releasing them to the Afghan National Police.

A forward air controller radioman holds aloft an satellite transmitter as he relays information to his command about the sighting of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley in the summer of 2009.

Mortar men with Baker Company, 2-12 Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division fire on Taliban fighters after one of the company's patrol bases came under attack in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley in the summer of 2009.

Hundreds of families from widely scattered villages gathered at a succession of locations in the northern Afghan province of Balkh to receive a second installment of food aid distributed by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Afghan Red Crescent Society on Feb. 17 and 18, 2009. The aid was necessary to tide dry land farmers through to the next successful harvest after a series of drought years and harsh winters have left many on the verge of malnutrition and dislocation.

A beneficiary of the Afghanistan Civilian Assistance Program, an International Organization for Migration-administered program which aids civilian survivors of attacks by insurgents and errant strikes by ISAF troops. Kandahar, Afghanistan, April 23, 2009.

A beneficiary of the Afghanistan Civilian Assistance Program, an International Organization for Migration-administered program which aids civilian survivors of attacks by insurgents and errant strikes by ISAF troops. Kandahar, Afghanistan, April 23, 2009.

Marines from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines begin to set up their new combat outpost after entering the Nawa district of Afghanistan's Helmand province during Operation River Liberty which began on July 2, 2009.

Hundreds of families from widely scattered villages gathered at a succession of locations in the northern Afghan province of Balkh to receive a second installment of food aid distributed by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Afghan Red Crescent Society on Feb. 17 and 18, 2009. The aid was necessary to tide dry land farmers through to the next successful harvest after a series of drought years and harsh winters have left many on the verge of malnutrition and dislocation.

Marines from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines begin to set up their new combat outpost after entering the Nawa district of Afghanistan's Helmand province during Operation River Liberty. July 4, 2009.

Hundreds of Afghan men attend a shura (community meeting) on the grounds of a mosque in the Nawa district of Afghanistan's Helmand province on July 23, 2009. The shura was led by the provincial governor, Gulab Mangal, local Afghan National Army and National Police commanders, and U.S. Marine Brigadier General Lawrence D. Nicholson.

Hundreds of Afghan men attend a shura (community meeting) on the grounds of a mosque in the Nawa district of Afghanistan's Helmand province on July 23, 2009. The shura was led by the provincial governor, Gulab Mangal, local Afghan National Army and National Police commanders, and U.S. Marine Brigadier General Lawrence D. Nicholson.